A replica of the RBS Six Nations trophy has been pressed into service so one
can be in Paris should France or Ireland win it, one in Rome in case England
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A replica of the RBS Six Nations trophy will be located at either the Stade de France in Paris or Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday given the uncertainty over the destination of the title, The Telegraph can reveal.

The move, a first in the tournament, follows a meeting of Six Nations officials on Monday in which it was decided that the logistical challenge of getting the original trophy to the right venue in time for the presentation to the winner was too difficult to overcome.

Ireland, England and France are all possible champions as they go into the final round on Saturday, with three wins from four games. Although each game is not kicking off at the same time, the winner will not be decided until the end of the final game between France and Ireland in Paris.

Any victory for Ireland will almost certainly make them champions for the second time in five years, but a defeat would open the door for England to win their first title since 2011 with a victory against Italy in Rome.

England would also need to post a high-scoring win to ensure that France are not able to clinch it with a big victory against Ireland.

The championship has been decided in the final weekend on points difference on four occasions but each time the organisers successfully chose the right location, a risk they were not prepared to take this weekend. None of the teams will be told at which venue the original trophy will be present.

“We knew this day would come. The reality is we can’t be sure where it is going to be won,” John Feehan, the Six Nations chief executive, told The Telegraph.

“In the past we have tried to have the trophy somewhere between both stadia and managed to do it but we were just lucky. We got away with it and sooner or later our luck would run out and it wouldn’t look good if we didn’t have a trophy to present to the winners. The replica is exactly the same as the original trophy, the only difference is the water-mark.”

Feehan also defended staggering of the three games on Saturday, even though it will potentially give France and Ireland an advantage as they will know in advance what they need to do to win the championship.

“All the teams agreed to this and there is no real way around it because if you have all the games at the same time, you would cut down enormously the number of people able to watch the games,” Feehan said.

"Last year we had a record audience in the UK for ‘Super Saturday’ of 15.1 million and it would be wrong to deprive people of that. Even if you know your target, you still have to go and do it. Super Saturday is an amazing day so we don’t see any reason to change something that works so well.”